Racial and Ethnic Issues

Short Critical Writing Assignment #1

Today In American society it is very evident that racial tension, as well as segregation is still very much existent. Although it is not to the extreme extent of slavery, many Americans are avoiding a huge problem that is breaking our nation apart due to skin color and what media portrays. With many immigrants moving to the United States, they are not given the fair chance to gain a job or get the right education they need. Many Americans believe that the crime rate has increased due to the growing minority groups. Many minorities have suffered from inequality and discrimination that created a blockage from achieving their potential to succeed in life.

As William Wilson stated, "We still have individuals who discriminate in hiring and promotion" (250) which has truly been a huge issue when it comes to inequality in America. Focusing on Africa Americans, they have been targeted with declining wages and the possibility of being jobless. In today's work force we are very dependent on technology, which has produced many new jobs but made others useless. However, these jobs benefit mostly the educated and skilled individuals while workers who are unskilled are suffering barely making it by. This trend has made it harder for African Americans, as they make up a big chunk of workers who have low skilled jobs compared to whites. With the growing demand for highly educated people, many African Americans are most likely the last to be employed and the first to be fired or unemployed. Another contributing factor is the location that many black people are living in because they tend to live in cities that have lower employment rates. Overall, African American's who were raised in cities that are not growing economically has caused a huge barricade for them. It has blocked them gaining access to suburban job locations where they can find higher job opportunities. Another contributing problem has been a financial issue, where many individuals do not have enough money to gain the proper skills to succeed in the fast and growing technological workforce today.

Although there is an array of problems with many minorities suffering to get by on a daily basis, it all starts from the roots, the children. There has been lots of controversy dealing with black families stereotyped as being incompetent to have a healthy growing environment for children. Due to this problem, many black children are being taken away from their families and put away into foster care. Dorothy Roberts states, "Black children make up about two-fifths of the foster care population" (290) which is a surprising amount. Not only has it been proven that the outcome of children raised in the foster care program not been very successful but instead would have been better off living with their own family. Even the Health and Human Services reported, " Minority children, and in particular African American children, are most likely to be in foster care placement than to receive in-home services, even when they have the same problems and characteristics as white children" (U.S. Dept. HHS 1997) (291) which is a perfect example as to how discrimination and skin color plays a key role. As these children are being put into foster care, they are not getting the proper care to be able to live a healthy and stable life. With this issue many children end up in juvenile hall and even prison. All of this shows the injustice present in African American families,